U.S. Pat. No. 7,806,547 describes a backlight composed of a mixing chamber with LEDs and holes through which light escapes. This light is then captured by an array of optics (one for each hole) and emitted in a beam the central axis of which is perpendicular to the plane of the device. The luminaires of U.S. Pat. No. 7,806,547 are mainly aimed at producing backlights, and for that reason, have some notable limitations. The desired uniform output for backlights imposes a uniform distribution of holes and corresponding optics, which are all replicas of each other. All holes and corresponding optics are coplanar, which leads to a planar device, as desired for a backlight. The array of optics may be tailored to produce some degree of collimation, but the emission patterns that can be produced are limited. Also, the whole device is made to produce a desired light emission which is fixed and cannot be changed.
The present application aims at improving the earlier luminaires by introducing new degrees of freedom in the design process. By allowing varying shapes and relative positions across the device for the holes and corresponding optics, it is now possible to generate complex emission patterns. The possibility of moving parts relative to each other or replacing a limited number of parts in the system, allows for different emission patterns to be produced by the same device. Also disclosed in this invention is the possibility of having devices whose overall shape is no longer flat. This is useful in some applications, notably car headlamps designed with the new invention, whose overall shape now conforms to the shape of the car.